In fact, the East China government also attaches great importance to providing supplies to Japan, although this is indeed helping Japan, but for the East China government, after all, according to the plan of the East China government, the time for the People's Army to participate in the war is 15 to 18 months less than that of Japan, and this period of time is a great opportunity for the East China government to promote economic development.

Because the war requires a lot of supplies, and the warring parties have no energy to bargain, it is a rare opportunity for non-belligerents to make a fortune, and in the old time and space, the United States rose to prominence during World War I. Although the Russo-Japanese War was only a local war, it was the largest local war before World War I, and the two countries consumed about 8. About 500 million pounds, for other countries, may only be considered a decent package, but for the East China government, it is definitely a big meal, first, because the East China government is small, and second, the East China government is close to the water, so naturally this opportunity cannot be missed.

In addition, Britain and the United States will give Japan enough support in terms of materials, and the East China government can also take advantage of this opportunity to store enough materials for itself without attracting the attention of other countries, so the East China government will naturally not accept Japan's payment method.

Li Sanjie said: "Mr. Komura, our government is small, the funds are limited, the deposit is what we need to purchase materials from abroad, the deposit is necessary, and the Japanese government needs a turnover period, our government also needs a turnover time, we can't delay it for so long, of course, we can also understand Japan's difficulties, we can make some concessions appropriately, but Japan's conditions, we can't accept it." ”

When it came to this step, both sides also touched each other's conditions and intentions for 6 or 7 points, so the meeting was adjourned again, and the East China government had to negotiate the next negotiation conditions again, and Komura Shoutaro also transmitted the current negotiation content back to China to listen to further instructions from the country.

Three days later, the Japanese government replied to Komura Shotaro, offering that a separate preliminary agreement could be signed with the East China government on the provision of supplies and payment methods, and that the rest of the matters could be put on hold for the time being, and negotiations could be held later.

The East China government did not reject Japan's proposal, because after all, it is very common for some clauses to be shelved in the negotiations. Therefore, after a few days of negotiation between the two sides, Japan finally compromised on the price and agreed to buy from the East China government according to the market price at that time, after all, the purchase of materials from the East China government did require the Japanese government to buy it itself to save some money, and the East China government also made some concessions in the payment method, agreeing to reduce the deposit to 25%, and only have to pay 50%, and the remaining 25% is allowed to be paid after a month.

Although it did not fully achieve its goal, Japan is still very satisfied with the content of this agreement, but this is only a preliminary agreement, and the two sides have not formally signed a treaty, after all, there are other terms that need to be further negotiated. The two sides also agreed that at the end of this year or the beginning of next year, another consultation will be held to finalize the matters of cooperation between the two sides and the treaty will be formally signed. This is because the Japanese government believes that at that time, the third negotiation with Russia will be held, and at that time Japan will also formally determine whether or not to wage war against Russia, and when to start the war, and then determine the conditions with the East China government according to the situation at that time.

Komura Shotaro returned to China with a result, but the East China government received a joint letter from Zhao Erxun, the governor of Huguang, and Zhang Renjun, the governor of Henan, which of course was sent to the governor of Shandong, although the governor of Shandong, Yamen, has now been abolished.

It turned out that after the East China government Java protected overseas Chinese, it put the Qing court in a very embarrassing position, but although the Qing court was annoyed, it did not dare to vent to overseas Chinese. It turned out that although Shandong was a fief for overseas Chinese, the Qing court still had official correspondence with all parts of Shandong as usual, and appointed officials to Shandong, although it was useless to know that these officials had arrived in Shandong, and the officials of the Qing court also knew that going to Shandong to become an official was an empty shelf, and in fact there was no power at all, and if it was not good, it would not even be able to save their lives, so everyone regarded Shandong as an official as a dangerous road.

After the Java protectorate, the Qing court refused to accept any official documents from Shandong, and it was not like Shandong to send officials, so it was regarded as if the Qing Dynasty did not have Shandong. This time, the officials of the Qing court were naturally happy, and finally they did not have to go to this sinister place anymore. Of course, the Qing court also turned a blind eye to the officials in Shandong, and some officials who had access to the government asked for favors and connections and transferred to other places, while those who did not have access either left with their seals or simply defected to the East China government.

The East China government, which had been actively promoting the process of de-purification in Shandong, took this opportunity to dismiss all the local officials and institutions of the Qing court, completely erasing the last trace of the Qing court in Shandong.

Of course, Zhao Erxun, the governor of Huguang, and Zhang Renjun, the governor of Henan, knew about this situation, but the two still jointly sent an official letter to the East China government, and there was no way to do it, because it turned out that the "mine distribution plan" implemented by the East China government last year brought tremendous pressure to Huguang and Henan.

Now the sphere of influence of the base area spans Henan and Hubei provinces, and is distributed in Guide Province, Chenzhou Province, Kaifeng Province, Xuzhou, Nanyang Province, Xiangyang Province, De'an Province and other places, the area under complete control is close to more than 30,000 square kilometers, plus the actual control area, it is more than 50,000 square kilometers, and the population under its rule is about 300 million, and a perfect administrative management system, financial and taxation system has been established, and it is officially named the River and Lake Base Area.

Since the base areas also carried out the policy of cracking down on landlords and bullies and distributing land, they quickly won the support of the local people, and now the number of armed volunteers has reached more than 8,000 people, organized into three regiments, about 2,000 logistics and administrative personnel, and about 3,000 local militiamen, and with the full support of the East China government, the assembly of the army is not bad, and at least one rifle per person can be guaranteed.

And such a big movement, of course, the local government is impossible not to know, but in the early days, the base area was mainly based on the countryside, and did not capture the county seat, even if some county towns were actually surrounded by the base area, but a series of bureaucratic systems such as the official government yamen in the county town are still built, and the exchange of official documents is completely normal, so the county governor does not dare to easily report the bandit situation to the state capital, after all, as long as the county seat is not lost, no matter how fierce the trouble outside the city is, who will make trouble for himself?

However, the government does not care, but the local magnates and squires cannot ignore it, because wherever the base areas go, their land and property are confiscated, and their power is deprived.

This time, the local government was also a little unbreathable, although the governor of Henan and the governor of Huguang Yamen did not take it too seriously, thinking that it was just that the people who often gathered to make trouble and eat big households in the past, so they ordered the local officials to suppress the bandits, so the local officials in Nanyang Mansion, Xiangyang Mansion, Chenzhou Mansion and other places have organized troops to conquer and suppress, but they were all defeated by the volunteers, and since the two sides tore their faces, the base area is not polite, and now the strength is enough, Yu Jie has captured 5 or 6 county towns in a row.

At this time, Zhang Renjun, the governor of Henan, and Zhao Erxun, the governor of Huguang, were also a little unable to sit still, and it was not good that this was the second Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, but at this time, both of them were not ready to report to the imperial court, but joined forces to solve it internally. So the two immediately began to organize the work of requisition and suppression, of course, first of all, to inquire about the details of this group of bandits.

But this inquiry frightened both of them, it turned out that this gang of bandits was still related to overseas Chinese. In fact, it is not difficult to inquire, because the methods of implementing land reform and cracking down on the powerful forces of landlords are almost identical to the two sides, and the organizational model of the Volunteer Army is completely the same as that of the People's Army, and the Volunteer Army is well-equipped and well-armed, and it is not at all the appearance of ordinary bandits, so if you can't see the relationship between the two, you are a fool.

Zhang Renjun and Zhao Erxun are both ministers with some ability, and they all know that this problem is very tricky, and at this time, they can't report it to the imperial court, because both of them know that the current imperial court, because it is Lafayette, can't hear any news from Shandong at all. It is said that the singing in the palace has stopped the dramas related to Shandong, such as Qin Qiong selling horses, Wu Song fighting tigers, etc., so it was reported to the court at this time, and this black yarn hat was not wanted.

But you can't let this gang of bandits go unattended, now this gang of bandits has a small climate in Henan and Hubei, who knows what else they will do, so they can't hide it if they want to, if there is a big incident at that time, the court will definitely know, and the two of them will have a rare good death.

At this time, Zhang Renjun and Zhao Erxun also realized the seriousness of the situation, so the two met and negotiated and believed that it was imperative to suppress the bandits, but before the conquest and suppression, it was necessary to test the attitude of the overseas Chinese. However, if the overseas Chinese get rid of their relationship with this bandit, then the two will still implement the expropriation plan and solve it within the scope of their authority.

So the two of them jointly sent an official letter to the Yamen, the governor of Shandong, saying that in Henan and Huguang, there was a group of bandits claiming to be branches of overseas Chinese, occupying counties and attacking cities and disturbing places, hoping that overseas Chinese could confirm it.